Born on this day were:
Subash ‘Fergie’ Gupte (1929-2002), Indian leg-spinner famous for his 9 for 102 against West Indies at Kanpur and considered by many to be cricket’s greatest leg-spinner (He took 149 wickets in 36 Tests over a period of ten years at an average of just under 30 and he was renowned for his immaculate control over line and length);
Salim Durani (1934-), one of India’s finest all-rounders, a left-handed middle-order batsman and slow left-armer, who once starred in a film with Parveen Babi;
Rick McCosker (1946-), Australian batsman;
Sylvester Theophilus Clarke (1954-99), West Indian seamer;
Mark Greatbatch (1963-), New Zealand batsman who is considered the original pinch-hitter;
Murray Goodwin (1972-), Zimbabwe batsman
Tim Southee (1988-), New Zealand bowler.
In 1944 Prof. D.B. Deodhar completd innings of 105 and 141 in a Ranji Trophy match for Maharashtra against Nawanagar at Poona (Pune). He became, at 52, the oldest player ever to score hundreds in both innings of a first-class match. Maharashtra won by 489 runs.
In 1970 Greg Chappell made his Test debut in the second Test against England at Perth. He took one wicket and made 108 in the first innings. It was a promising start to a very successful career. There were also tons for Brian Luckhurst, in his second Test, , and John Edrich and Ian Redpath, while Bill Lawry reached 5,000 Test runs in the second innings.
In 1979 Geoff Boycott slammed his only ODI hundred (105 from 124 balls) to take England to victory over Australia at Sydney. Derek Randall ended the match by dismissing Trevor Laughlin with his second, and last ball in ODIs.
In 1982 Zaheer Abbas made his 100th hundred in the first Test against India at Lahore. He scored 215 off only 254 balls and emulated Boycott who also got his 100th first-class hundred in a Test (against Australia at Leeds). The match ended in high-scoring draw.
In 1984 the first of Allan Border’s record 93 consecutive Tests in charge ended with a 191-run victory for West Indies at Adelaide. It extended their record run of victories to 11 and took their unbeaten run to 26. When Border retired ten years later he had forged a team who were ready to take the top spot in world cricket. Mark Taylor and then Steve Waugh reaped the fruits of the firm foundation laid by Border.
In 1987 Carl Hooper made his Test debut against India in the second Test at Bombay. He scored 37 in his only innings of the match.
In 1988 Mark Waugh’s ODI debut provided the first instance of twins taking the field in an international match. It was a dull debut though, he did not bat or bowl, as Australia beat Pakistan by nine wickets at Adelaide. Merv Hughes, also making his ODI debut, took 3 for 30. On the same day in 1988 Sachin Tendulkar made 100 not out in his first-class debut in a Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai against Gujarat. At 15 years 7 months and 17 day he was the youngest after Dhruv Pandove of Punjab who did it aged 14 years and 294 days. Sachin scored a century on debut in the Duleep and the Irani Trophy as well to complete a unique triple.
In 2000 Sourav Ganguly’s 5 for 38 and an unbeaten 68-ball 71, won the fourth ODI for India against Zimbabwe. Ganguly was however found to be in breach of ICC’s Code of Conduct by match referee Barry Jarman for dissent and attempting to intimidate the umpires. He was given an immediate one-match ban.
In 2004 Sachin Tendulkar equalled Sunil Gavaskar’s world-record 34 Test centuries playing against Bangladesh at Dhaka.
In 2005 Andrew Flintoff became first cricketer in 24 years to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year, England won team award.
In 2007 Luke Pomersbach made debut for Australia after driving in to a watch the Twenty20 match against New Zealand in Perth, when Brad Hodge was injured.
